University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


r 


33d  CONGRESS,  )     HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      (Ex.  Doc. 

2d  Session.     \  I  No.  47. 


EAMSEY  &  CAKMICK— CONTEACT. 


LETTER 


THE  POSTMASTER  GENERAL, 


TRANSMITTING 


Copy  of  a  conditional  mail  contract;  also  copies  of  correspondence  rela 
tive  to  the  same. 


FEBRUARY  1,  1855. — Referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  Post  Office  and  Post  Roads,  and  or 
dered  to  be  printed. 


POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT, 

Washington,  January  31,  1855. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith,  in  compliance  with  the 
resolution  of  the  House  of  the  2d  of  January  instant,  a  copy  of  the 
conditional  contract  made  by  my  predecessor,  Mr.  Hubbard,  with 
Messrs.  Ramsey  &  Carmick,  on  the  3d  of  March,  1853,  for  the  exten 
sion  of  two  of  the  trips  on  the  New  Orleans  and  Vera  Cruz  line,  from 
Vera  Cruz,  Mexico,  via  Acapulco,  to  San  Francisco  in  California; 
also  copies  of  all  the  correspondence  relative  to  the  same,  and  also 
relative  to  the  change  of  schedule  proposed  on  the  line  from  New  Or 
leans  to  Vera  Cruz. 

My  views  in  regard  to  this  contract  were  fully  stated  in  my  annual 
report  to  Congress  of  December  1,  1853,  and  are  also  contained  in  the 
correspondence  herewith  communicated.    It  was  not  deemed  necessary 
to  answer  the  letter  of  Robert  G.  Rankin,  president  of  the  Mexican  Ocean 
MalTand  Inland  Company,  dated  November  23,  1853,  and  received  at 
the  department  on  the  30th  of  January,  1854.     That  they  were  not   ' 
prej^ai-ed  to^  fulfil  their  conditional  contract  on  the  23d  of  November, 
1 85 37~riine  months  after  its  execution,  is  therein  conceded,  and  the 
department  had  neither  the  time  nor  desire  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  / 
the  irrelevant  matters  introduced  into  the  body  of  that  letter. 

The  objections  which  I  entertained  to  the  change  of  schedule  on  the 
New  Orleans  and  Vera  Cruz  route,  proposed,  by  Messrs.  Harris  & 
Morgan  in  their  letter  of  the  26th  October,  1853,  were  two-fold: 

1st.  That  by  authorizing  the  change  proposed  the  original  intent 


2  RAMSEY  AND   CAEMICK. 

and  object  of  my  predecessor,  Mr.  Hubbard,  in  entering  into  the  con 
ditional  contract  with  Messrs.  Kamsey  and  Carmick — which  was,  to 
secure  an  additional  semi-monthly  mail  between  the  Atlantic  States 
and  California  by  alternating  at  regular  intervals  with  the  present 
semi-monthly  line  via  Panama — would  have  been  entirely  frustrated ; 
and  thus,  instead  of  having  a  weekly  mail  between  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific,  there  would  have  been,  as  heretofore,  only  a  semi-monthly 
communication. 

2d.  By  changing  the  schedule  so  as  to  make  connections  at  Acapulco 
with  the  steamers  of  the  Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company,  that  com 
pany  would  receive  not  only  their  regular  compensation  under  their 
contract  with  the  government,  but  extra  pay  under  the  contract  of 
Kamsey  &  Carmick,  although  no  additional  service  was  really  ren 
dered  by  them  to  the  department  or  the  public. 

Authority  having  been  given  by  Mr.  Hubbard  on  the  7th  of  March, 
1853,  to  the  postmasters  of  New  Orleans,  San  Diego,  Monterey  and 
San  Francisco,  to  make  up  and  send  mails  by  the  Vera  Cruz  and 
Acapulco  line,  containing  such  matter  as  was  expressly  directed  to  go 
by  that  line,  I  took  the  precaution  to  withhold  from  those  officers  the 
authority  to  send  mails  without  first  consulting  the  department,  by 
instructing  them,  on  the  23d  of  September  following,  to  report  to  the 
department  before  delivering  such  mails,  for  further  instructions, 
should  the  proprietors  apply  for  them.  My  object  in  issuing  those  in 
structions  was  simply  to  enable  the  department  to  be  fully  satisfied 
that  all  mails  forwarded  by  that  route  were  committed  to  the  care  and 
custody  of  competent  and  proper  persons,  and  would  be  safely  trans 
ported  through  Mexico.  It  does  not  appear,  however,  that  any  appli 
cation  has  ever  been  made  by  Messrs.  Kamsey  &  Carmick  for  a  mail  to 
be  conveyed  by  that  route,  as  no  report  from  any  postmaster  to  that 
effect  has  been  received  at  this  department. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  CAMPBELL. 

Hon.  LINN  BOYD, 

Speaker  of  House  of  Representatives. 


No.  9— $424,000  PER  ANNUM. 

This  article  of  contract,  made  the  fifteenth  day  of  February,  in  the 
year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-three,  between  the  United 
States  (acting  in  this  behalf  by  their  Postmaster  General)  and  Albert 
C.  Kamsey  and  Edward  H.  Carmick,  William  H.  Aspinwall  and  Ed 
win  Bartlett,  of  the  city  of  New  York ;  Silas  C.  Herring,  Elihu  Town- 
send,  Simeon  Draper,  and  K.  B.  Coleman,  of  the  same  place,  wit- 
nesseth:  That  whereas,  by  an  act  of  Congress,  passed  March  3,  1845, 
entitled  "An  act  to  provide  for  the  transportation  of  the  mail  between 
the  United  States  and  foreign  countries,  and  for  other  purposes,"  the 
Postmaster  General  is  authorized  to  contract  for  the  transportation 
of  the  United  States  mail  between  any  of  the  ports  of  the  United 


RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK.  3 

States  and  a  port  or  ports  of  any  foreign  power  whenever,  in  his 
opinion,  the  public  interests  will  thereby  be  promoted;  and  whereas, 
by  another  act  of  Congress,  passed  March  3,  1851,  entitled  "An  act 
to  establish  certain  post-roads  in  the  United  States  and  the  Territo 
ries  thereof,"  the  Postmaster  General  is  authorized  to  enter  into  con 
tracts,  for  a  period  not  longer  than  four  years,  for  transporting 
through  any  foreign  country  the  mails  of  the  United  States,  and  that 
in  making  such  contracts,  the  Postmaster  General  shall  be  bound  to 
select  the  speediest,  safest,  and  most  economical  route ;  and  whereas 
notice  has  been  given  by  advertising,  in  accordance  with  the  direc 
tions  of  said  act,  for  inviting  proposals  for  mail  contracts,  under  and 
by  virtue  of  the  acts  aforesaid;  and  whereas  Albert  C.  Kamsey  and 
Edward  H.  Carmick  have  been  accepted,  according  to  law,  as  con 
tractors  for  transporting  the  mail  on  route  No.  9,  from  Vera  Cruz,  via 
Acapulco,  to  San  Francisco  and  back,  twice  a  month,  according  to  the 
schedule  hereinafter  mentioned,  in  thirteen  days  each  way,  being  an 
extension  of  two  of  the  trips  on  the  New  Orleans  and  Vera  Cruz  line 
through  Mexico,  for  the  purpose  of  conveying  the  mail,  and  thus 
making  one  through-line  in  sixteen  days  between  New  Orleans  and 
San  Francisco,  at  and  for  the  sum  of  four  hundred  and  twenty-four 
thousand  dollars  per  year,  for  and  during  the  term  commencing  from 
the  time  Congress  shall  ratify  this  contract,  and  ending  four  years 
from  that  date,  with  the  right  reserved  to  the  Postmaster  General  to 
continue  it  one  year  longer,  at  the  same  terms : 

Now,  therefore,  the  said  Albert  C.  Kamsey  and  Edward  H.  Car 
mick,  contractors,  and  Silas  C.  Herring,  Elihu  Townsend,  Simeon 
Draper,  Kobert  B.  Coleman,  William  H.  Aspinwall,  and  Edwin 
Bartlett,  their  sureties,  do  jointly  and  severally  undertake,  covenant, 
and  agree  with  the  United  States,  and  do  bind  themselves: 

1st.  To  carry  said  mail  within  the  times  fixed  in  the  annexed 
schedule  of  departures  and  arrivals,  and  so  carry  until  said  schedule 
is  altered  by  the  authority  of  the  Postmaster  General  of  the  United 
States,  as  hereinafter  provided,  and  then  to  carry  according  to  said 
altered  schedule. 

2d.  To  carry  said  mail  in  a  safe  and  secure  manner,  free  from  wet 
or  other  injury,  in  weather-proof  bags  and  vehicles  on  the  land  route, 
and  in  a  separate  and  convenient  apartment  on  shipboard,  to  be  suit 
ably  fitted  up  under  order  of  the  department,  at  the  expense  of  the 
contractors,  for  the  assorting  and  safe-keeping  of  the  mails,  and  for 
the  sole  and  exclusive  occupation,  use,  and  accommodation  of  the 
Post  Office  Department  and  its  mail-agent,  if  the  Postmaster  General 
shall  require  it  for  the  use  and  accommodation  of  the  mail  and  mail- 
agent,  and  such  mail-agent  is  to  be  conveyed  without  further  charge. 

In  case  the  contractors  fail  to  furnish  such  suitable  accommoda 
tions,  the  department  shall  have  the  right  to  provide  the  bags, 
vehicles,  or  apartments,  or  other  suitable  accommodations,  at  the  ex 
pense  of  the  contractors. 

3d.  To  take  the  mail  and  every  part  of  it  from,  and  deliver  it  and 
every  part  of  it  into,  the  post  office  at  San  Francisco,  and  to  and  from 
the  mail  steamers  at  Vera  Cruz  on  the  New  Orleans  and  Vera  Cruz 
line,  and  also  to  deliver  and  receive  the  mails  at  San  Diego  and 


4  RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK. 

terey,  regularly  by  each  trip  going  and  returning,  as  is  now  done  by 
the  " Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company." 

They  also  undertake,  covenant,  and  agree  with  the  United  States, 
and  do  bind  themselves,  jointly  and  severally,  as  aforesaid,  to  be 
answerable  for  the  person  to  whom  the  said  contractors  shall  commit 
the  care  and  transportation  of  the  mail,  and  accountable  to  the  United 
States  for  any  damages  which  may  be  sustained  by  the  United  States 
through  his  unfaithfulness  or  want  of  care ;  and  that  the  said  con 
tractors  will  discharge  any  carrier  of  said  mail  whenever  required  to 
do  so  by  the  Postmaster  General ;  also,  that  they  will  not  transmit 
by  themselves  or  their  agent,  or  be  concerned  in  transmitting,  com 
mercial  intelligence  more  rapidly  than  by  mail,  and  they  will  not 
carry  out  of  the  mail  letters  or  newspapers  which  should  go  by  post; 
and  that  they  will  not,  knowingly,  convey  any  person  carrying  on 
the  business  of  transporting  letters  or  other  mail  matter  without  the 
consent  of  the  department;  and  further,  that  the  said  contractors 
will  convey,  without  additional  charge,  post-office  blanks,  mail  bags, 
and  the  special  agents  of  the  department,  on  the  exhibition  of  their 
credentials. 

They  further  undertake,  covenant,  and  agree  with  the  United 
States,  that  the  said  contractors  will  collect  quarterly,  if  required  by 
the  Postmaster  General,  of  postmasters  on  said  route,  the  balances  due 
from  them  to  the  General  Post  Office,  and  faithfully  render  an  ac 
count  thereof  to  the  Postmaster  General  in  the  settlement  of  quar 
terly  accounts,  and  will  pay  over  to  the  General  Post  Office  all  bal 
ances  remaining  in  their  hands. 

For  which  services,  when  performed,  the  said  Albert  C.  Eamsey 
and  Edward  H.  Carmick,  contractors,  are  to  be  paid  by  the  said 
United  States  the  sum  of  four  hundred  and  twenty-four  thousand  dol 
lars  a  year,  to  wit:  quarterly,  in  the  months  of  May,  August,  No 
vember,  and  February,  through  the  postmasters  on  the  route,  or 
otherwise,  at  the  option  of  the  Postmaster  General  of  the  United 
States ;  said  pay  to  be  subject,  however,  to  be  reduced  or  discontinued 
by  the  Postmaster  General,  as  hereinafter  stipulated,  or  to  be  sus 
pended  in  case  of  delinquency. 

It  is  hereby  stipulated  and  agreed  by  the  said  contractors  and  their 
sureties,  that  the  Postmaster  General  may  increase  the  service  or 
change  the  schedule,  he  allowing  a  pro  rata  increase  of  compensation 
within  the  restrictions  imposed  by  law  for  the  additional  service  re 
quired  ;  but  the  contractors  may,  in  case  of  increased  service  or  change 
of  schedule,  relinquish  the  contract,  on  timely  notice,  if  they  prefer  it 
to  the  change. 

It  is  hereby  also  stipulated  and  agreed  by  the  said  contractors  and 
their  sureties,  that  in  all  cases  there  is  to  be  a  forfeiture  of  the  pay  of 
a  trip  when  the  trip  is  not  performed,  and  of  not  more  than  three  times 
the  pay  of  a  trip  when  the  trip  is  not  duly  performed  and  no  sufficient 
excuse  for  the  failure  is  furnished ;  a  forfeiture  of  at  least  one-fourth 
part  of  it  when  the  running  is  so  far  behind  time  as  to  lose  connexion 
with  a  depending  mail,  unless  it  is  shown  that  the  same  was  not 
caused  by  neglect,  or  want  of  proper  skill  or  misconduct,  and  a  for 
feiture  of  a  due  proportion  of  it  when  a  grade  of  service  is  rendered 


RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK.  5 

inferior  to  the  mode  of  conveyance  above  stipulated ;  and  that  these 
forfeitures  may  be  increased  into  penalties  of  a  higher  amount,  ac 
cording  to  the  nature  or  frequency  of  the  failure,  and  the  importance 
of  the  mail ;  also  that  fines  may  be  imposed  upon  the  contractors, 
unless  the  delinquency  be  satisfactorily  explained  to  the  Postmaster 
General  in  due  time,  for  failing  to  take  from  or  deliver  at  a  post  office, 
or  a  steam- vessel,  the  mail,  or  any  part  of  it;  for  suffering  it  to  be 
wet,  injured,  lost,  or  destroyed  ;  for  carrying  it  in  a  place  or  manner 
that  exposes  it. to  depredation,  loss  or  injury,  by  being  wet,  or  other 
wise  ;  for  refusing,  after  demand,  to  carry  a  mail  by  any  vessel  or 
other  vehicle  which  the  contractors  run  or  are  concerned  in  running 
on  the  route  beyond  the  number  of  trips  above  specified ;  or  for  not 
arriving  at  the  time  set  in  the  schedule,  unless  not  caused  by  neglect 
or  want  of  proper  skill,  or  by  misconduct.  And  for  setting  up  or 
running  an  express  to  transmit  letters  or  commercial  intelligence  in 
advance  of  the  mail,  or  for  transporting  knowingly,  or  after  being  in 
formed,  any  one  engaged  in  transporting  letters  or  mail  matter  in 
violation  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  a  penalty  of  five  hundred 
dollars  may  be  exacted  for  each  offence,  and  for  each  article  so  carried. 

And  it  is  hereby  further  stipulated  and  agreed  by  the  said  contract 
ors  and  their  sureties  that  the  Postmaster  General  may  annul  the 
contract  for  repeated  failures  ;  for  violating  the  post  office  laws ;  for 
disobeying  the  instructions  of  the  department;  for  refusing  to  dis 
charge  a  carrier,  or  any  other  person  having  charge  of  the  mail  by 
his  direction,  when  required  by  the  department;  for  assigning  the 
contract  without  the  consent  of  the  Postmaster  General ;  for  setting 
up  or  running  an  express  as  aforesaid,  or  for  transporting  persons, 
conveying  mail  matter  out  of  the  mail  as  aforesaid  ;  or  whenever  the 
contractors  or  either  of  them  shall  become  a  postmaster,  assistant 
postmaster,  or  member  of  Congress  ;  and  this  contract  shall  in  all  its 
parts  be  subject  to  the  terms  and  requisitions  of  an  act  of  Congress 
passed  on  the  twenty-first  day  of  April,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight,  entitled  ' i  An  act  concerning  pub 
lic  contracts." 

And  it  is  hereby  further  stipulated  and  agreed  by  the  said  contract 
ors,  that  the  steam-vessels  for  the  service  between  San  Francisco  and 
Acapulco  shall  be  of  a  class  contemplated  by  the  act  of  Congress, 
passed  March  3,  1845,  entitled  "  An  act  to  provide  for  the  transpor 
tation  of  the  mail  between  the  United  States  and  foreign  countries, 
and  for  other  purposes  ;"  and  that  the  same  shall  be  delivered  to  the 
United  States,  or  their  proper  officer,  on  demand  made,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  being  converted  into  vessels  of  war,  according  to  the  tenor  and 
terms  of  the  said  act. 

And  it  is  hereby  further  expressly  understood  that  this  contract  is 
to  have  no  force  or  validity  until  it  shall  have  received  the  sanction  of 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  by  the  passage  of  an  appropriation 
to  carry  it  into  effect. 

In  witness  whereof,  the  said  Postmaster  General  has  caused  the 
seal  of  the  Post  Office  Department  to  be  hereto  affixed,  and  has  at 
tested  the  same  by  his  signature ;  and  the  said  contractors  and  their 


6 


RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK. 


sureties  have  hereunto  set  their  hands  and  seals 
opposite  their  names,  respectively. 

S.  D.  HUBBARD,  [SEAL.] 

Postmaster  General. 

WM.  H.  ASPINWALL,  [SEAL.] 

EDWIN  BARTLETT,  [SEAL.] 
By  Wm.  H.  Davidge,  their  Att'y. 

ALBERT  C.  RAMSEY.  [SEAL. 

EDWARD  H.  CARMICK.  [SEAL. 

SILAS  C.  HERRING.  [SEAL. 

ELIHU  TOWNSEND.  [SEAL. 

SIMEON  DRAPER.  [SEAL. 

R.  B.  COLEMAN.  [SEAL. 

THE  MEXICAN  OCEAN  MAIL 

AND  INLAND  COMPANY,     [SEAL.] 
By  Robert  G.  Rankin,  President. 


the  day  and  year  set 
March  3,  1853. 

March  3,  1853. 
March  3,  1853. 

Fehruary  25, 1853. 
February  25,  1853. 
Fehruary  25,  1853. 
Fehruary  25,  1853. 
Fehruary  25,  4853. 
Fehruary  25,  1853. 

February  25,  1853. 


Signed,  sealed,  and  delivered  by  the  Postmaster  General  in  the 
presence  of — 

JAMES  LAWRENSON. 
R.  T.  McLAiN. 

And  by  the  other  parties  hereto  in  the  presence  of — 

J.   B.  NOTT,  witness  for  A.  C.  Ramsey,  S.  Draper,  and  R.  B. 

Coleman,  and  Edward  H.  Carmick. 
EDWARD  S.  GOULD,  witness  to  S.  C.  Herring. 

Witness  to  Wm.  H.  Davidge's  signature,  as  attorney  of  Wm.  H. 
Aspinwall  and  Edwin  Bartlett — 
JAMES  LAWRENSON. 
R.  T.  McLALN. 

Witness  to  R.  G.  Rankin's  signature — 
JNO.  T.  HOWARD. 


I  hereby  certify  that  I  am  well  acquainted  with  Albert  C.  Ramsey, 
and  Edward  H.  Carmick,  and  Silas  C.  Herring,  Elihu  Townsend, 
Simeon  Draper,  and  R.  B.  Coleman,  and  the  condition  of  their  prop 
erty  ;  and  that,  after  full  investigation  and  inquiry,  I  am  well  satisfied 
that  they  are  good  and  sufficient  sureties  for  the  amount  in  the  fore 
going  contract. 

WM.  V.  BRADY, 

Postmaster  at  New  York. 


The  schedule  of  Departures  and  Arrivals. 

Leave  Vera  Cruz  on  the  4th  and  17th  of  each  month. 
Acapulco  by  the  9th  and  22d  of  each  month. 


Arrive  at 


RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK.  7 

Leave  Acapulco  on  the  9th  and  22d  of  each  month.  Arrive  at  San 
Francisco  by  the  17th  and  30th  of  each  month. 

Leave  San  Francisco  on  the  8th  and  24th  of  each  month.  Arrive 
at  Acapulco  hy  the  16th  and  1st  of  each  month. 

Leave  Acapulco  on  the  16th  and  1st  of  each  month.  Arrive  at  Vera 
Cruz  hy  the  21st  and  6th  of  each  month. 


POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT, 

March  7,  1853. 

GENTLEMEN:  The  postmasters  of  New  Orleans,  San  Francisco,  Mon 
terey  and  San  Diego,  will  be  authorized  to  send  a  mail  by  the  Vera 
Cruz  and  Acapulco  line,  containing  letters  or  papers  expressly  di 
rected  to  go  by  that  line,  when  said  communication  is  open,  and  you 
are  prepared  to  carry  a  mail,  with  the  express  understanding  that 
neither  this  department  nor  the  government  is  to  be  in  any  way 
holden  for  any  expenses  attending  such  service ;  but,  as  provided  in 
the  contract,  it  is  left  for  Congress  to  determine  whether  the  contract 
is  to  be  sanctioned  by  an  appropriation  to  carry  it  into  effect. — the 
pay,  if  any,  for  said  service  commencing  only  in  accordance  with  the 
terms  of  the  contract  made  February  15,  1853. 

I  am,  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

S.  D.  HUBBAKD, 

Postmaster  General. 

Messrs.  KAMSEY  &  CARMICK,  New  York. 


POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT, 

March  T,  1853. 

SIR  :  You  are  hereby  authorized  to  make  up  and  send  a  mail  by  the 
Vera  Cruz  and  Acapulco  line,  containing  letters  or  papers  expressly 
directed  to  go  by  that  line,  when  said  communication  is  open,  and  the 
contractors  are  prepared  to  carry  a  mail  on  the  terms  of  their  contract 
of  February  15,  1853.  You  would  do  well,  perhaps,  to  advertise  to 
the  above  effect,  adding  that  all  letters,  &c.,  not  marked  as  above 
indicated,  will  be  forwarded  by  the  Panama  route. 
Kespectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

S.  D.  HUBBAED, 

Postmaster  General. 
POSTMASTER, 

San  Francisco,  California. 

[Same  to  postmasters  of  New  Orleans,  San  Diego,  and  Monterey.] 


OFFICE  OF  THE  MEXICAN  OCEAN  MAIL  AND  INLAND  Co., 

New  York,  June  15,  1853. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  The  position  that  our  company  sustains  to  the  gov 
ernment,  (as  the  real  parties  by  contract,)  to  execute  the  mail  con- 


8  RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK. 

tracts  with  Messrs.  Ramsey  &  Carmick,  renders  it  proper  that  the 
Post  Office  Department  should  be  advised  of  the  state  of  forwardness 
on  the  part  of  the  contractors  to  fulfil  the  contracts. 

Our  vice  president,  Colonel  Albert  C.  Ramsey,  is  now  in  Mexico 
assigning  the  stations.  In  all  this  month  and  next  month,  the 
coaches,  wagons,  and  literas  will  he  in  Mexico — portions  of  them 
being  on  their  way  now.  By  August  10  the  mules  and  horses  (1,000) 
will  be  down  from  Coahuila,  and  we  then  expect  to  make  the  regular 
transit  across. 

Although  the  contracts  only  require  a  bi-monthly  mail,  we  are 
making  all  our  arrangements  for  a  daily  line  of  transit  across  Mexico, 
feeling  justified  by  the  assurances  we  have  from  Mexico.  We  shall 
also  establish  a  weekly  line  of  steamers  from  New  Orleans  to  Vera 
Cruz,  (one  steamer  is  now  running  there,  and  another  now  building;) 
and  with  the  use  of  the  new  envelopes,  (when  they  appear,)  we  shall 
actually  afford  a  weekly  line  from  New  Orleans  to  San  Francisco ; 
and  if  the  steamers  on  the  Pacific  could  be  arranged,  we  could  make 
a  daily  line  to  San  Francisco  in  sixteen  days.  Our  land  route  will 
be  daily,  in  any  case,  on  account  of  our  Mexican  facilities. 

We  have  purchased  and  ordered  the  whole  of  the  rolling  stock  for 
the  transit,  and  parties  are  now  in  Mexico  clearing  obstructions,  and 
we  shall  not,  I  think,  require  the  full  time  allowed  by  the  contract  for 
the  transit,  although  trial  only  will  verify  our  expectations. 

We  already  have  a  margin  in  our  favor  in  the  gulf  service,  as  our 
steamer,  the  " Texas,"  has  performed  the  duty  in  sixty  hours;  and 
the  Pacific  service  has  been  done  in  twenty-four  and  thirty  hours  less 
than  schedule  time.  Our  recent  reports  from  Mexico  justify  us  in  the 
expectation  of  carrying  the  mails  in  fourteen  days  from  New  Orleans 
to  San  Francisco,  and  six  months  of  experimental  operation  will,  I 
think,  show  the  feasibility  of  doing  the  regular  service  in  within  fif 
teen  days. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  add  that  we  are  exerting  every  energy  in 
pushing  the  thing  up,  and  shall  spare  neither  time  nor  money  in  prov 
ing  the  truthfulness  of  all  our  positions. 

An  estafette  mail  will  be  carried  from  Vera  Cruz  and  New  Orleans 
to  San  Francisco  next  month,  until  the  service  becomes  regular. 
I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

ROBT.  G.  RANKIN, 

President. 

We  have  the  highest  assurance  of  our  favorable  position  in  Mexico. 

Hon.  JAMES  CAMPBELL, 

Postmaster  General  U.  S.,  &c. 


POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT,  July  9,  1853. 

SIR:  Your  letter  of  the  15th  ultimo  came  duly  to  hand.  My  atten 
tion  having  been  specially  called  to  the  circumstances  connected  with 
the  contemplated  line  to  the  Pacific  via  Vera  Cruz  and  Acapulco,  I 
feel  it  my  duty,  after  due  deliberation,  to  inform  you  that  the  condi- 


RAMSEY  AND   CARMICK.  9 

tional  contract  entered  into  between  my  predecessor,  Mr.  Hubbard, 
and  Messrs.  Kamsey  and  Carmick,  for  the  conveyance  of  the  mails 
over  this  line  to  San  Francisco,  does  not  meet  with  my  approbation. 

In  the  first  place,  as  at  present  advised,  I  consider  the  route  im 
practicable  for  mail  purposes. 

In  the  second  place,  the  sums  of  money  yearly  drawn  from  the 
treasury  for  contracts,  which  have  for  several  years  been,  and  are 
still  in  force,  for  the  transportation  of  the  mails  between  the  Atlantic 
and  the  Pacific,  are  very  considerable,  amounting  to  about  $731,868. 
In  view  of  this  fact,  and  of  the  many  sections  and  neighborhoods,  in 
the  different  States,  which  are  either  greatly  restricted  in,  or  deprived 
altogether  of  mail  facilities,  it  appears  to  me  both  inexpedient  and 
unjust  to  go  into  the  expenditure  of  a  still  further  sum  of  $424,000 
for  the  service  in  question. 

Moreover,  I  disapprove  of  the  principle  upon  which  this  contract  is 
made.  In  my  opinion,  if  the  Postmaster  General  has  the  right  to 
make  such  a  contract  at  all,  it  ought  to  be  made  without  the  restric 
tion  or  limitation  contained  in  yours,  by  which  its  force  or  validity  is 
made  to  depend  upon  the  passage  of  an  appropriation  by  Congress  to 
carry  it  into  effect.  I  am  unwilling  to  recognise  any  contingency  of 
this  kind,  because,  although  the  contractors  may,  under  such  condi 
tional  arrangement,  establish  no  legal  claim  for  compensation,  they 
may,  nevertheless,  go  on  and  incur  expenses,  in  the  expectation  that 
they  will  be  paid,  and  Congress,  more  from  private  sympathy  than 
from  public  policy  or  right,  be  at  length  induced  to  yield  to  a  measure 
to  which  its  prior  sanction  never  could  have  been  obtained. 
I  am,  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  CAMPBELL, 

Postmaster  General. 

KOBT.  G.  EANKIN,  Esq., 

Pres't  of  the  Mexican  Ocean  Mail  and  Inland  Co.,  N.  T. 


POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT,  September  23,  1853. 

Sm :  Should  the  proprietors  of  the  Vera  Cruz,  Acapulco,  and  San 
Francisco  line  apply  for  mail  to  take  over  their  route,  under  the  con 
ditional  order  of  the  late  Postmaster  General,  dated  7th  March,  1853, 
before  delivering  such  mail  to  them,  you  will  report  to  department 
for  further  instructions. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  CAMPBELL, 

Postmaster  General. 
POSTMASTER, 

New  Orleans,  Louisiana. 

To  Postmaster  at  San  Diego,  California:  Same. 

J.  C. 

To  Postmaster  at  Monterey,  California:  Same. 

J.  C. 

To  Thos.  J.  Henley,  Esq.,  San  Francisco,  California:  Same. 

J.  C. 


10  RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK. 

WASHINGTON,  October  26,  1853. 

DEAR  SIR:  The  Mexican  Ocean  Mail  and  Inland  Company,  and 
Charles  Morgan,  of  New  York,  (through  the  agency  of  the  under 
signed,)  present  the  following  facts,  and  ask  such  decision  as  an  im 
partial  consideration  of  this  memorial  may  produce.  The  company 
(having  obtained  from  the  government  of  Mexico  peculiar  and  well- 
authenticated  privileges,  whereby  they  were  enabled  to  present  to 
the  United  States  Post  Office  Department  a  schedule  of  mail  service 
which  should  insure  the  transmission  of  mails  between  New  Orleans 
and  San  Francisco  in  the  short  space  of  sixteen  days)  urged  the  de 
partment  for  a  mail  contract  authorizing  the  service,  which  was 
granted,  subject  to  an  appropriation  by  Congress  for  payment.  There 
upon  the  company  commenced  proceedings  for  putting  the  route  into 
active  operation.  Proper  agents  were  despatched  to  Mexico,  and  have 
been  actively  engaged  in  overcoming  such  obstacles  as,  unremoved, 
would  have  impeded  rapid  transit  across  that  country.  Koads  were 
improved,  others  made;  coaches,  harness,  mules,  and  horses  have 
been  purchased,  and  a  large  portion  of  them  are  already  on  the  route, 
ready  to  commence  the  carrying  of  the  mails.  In  connexion  with, 
and  forming  a  portion  of,  this  through-route,  a  mail  service  from 
New  Orleans  to  Vera  Cruz  has  been  put  into  operation,  the  schedule 
for  which  was  so  arranged  as  to  meet  at  Acapulco  with  the  mail 
steamers  on  the  Pacific,  insuring  a  proper  connexion  on  that  end  of 
the  line.  Thus  nothing  stood  in  the  way  of  the  successful  operation 
of  the  route,  save  the  obstacles  on  the  land,  which,  being  overcome, 
would  enable  us  at  once  to  perform  our  contract  in  the  specified  time ; 
but  now  that  arrangements  are  completed  for  this  portion  on  the  ser 
vice,  your  memorialists  find  that  an  alteration  in  the  running  on  the 
Pacific  has  thrown  out  of  gear  this  well-arranged  system.  By  the 
present  schedule  between  New  Orleans  and  Vera  Cruz,  it  is  impossible 
to  meet  the  Pacific  steamers,  as  they  now  run,  at  Acapulco,  without 
suffering  long  delays  at  the  latter  point,  entirely  ruining  the  efficacy 
of  this  otherwise  desirable  medium  of  transit.  The  undersigned,  C. 
Morgan,  now  urges  that  a  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  a  through- 
service  to  San  Francisco  was  the  inducement  for  his  accepting  the 
portion  of  service  between  New  Orleans  and  Vera  Cruz ;  as,  upon  the 
successful  working  of  the  through-route,  he  depended  for  any  profits 
that  might  inure  to  his  ships  from  his  connexion  therewith.  He  has 
already  put  upon  the  route  a  first-class  steamship  of  over  1,100  tons 
burden,  and  is  building  another  of  about  1,500  tons  burden  for  the 
same  purpose ;  which  two  vessels  will  embrace  an  investment  of  nearly 
$300,000  for  this  first  portion  of  the  enterprise.  The  company  de 
pend  upon  appropriations  by  Congress  for  the  means  of  remuneration ; 
and  as  such  appropriations  can  only  be  secured  by  proofs  of  the  prac 
ticability  of  the  through-route,  as  per  schedule,  they,  together,  ask 
your  consideration  of  the  efforts  they  have  made,  and  the  moneys 
they  have  expended,  under  inducements  the  Post  Office  Depart 
ment  held  out  to  them,  for  such  efforts  and  expenditures,  by  granting 
a  through-service  and  arranging  schedule  for  connexion;  and  respect 
fully  petition  that  you  will  so  alter  the  schedule  between  New  Or 
leans  and  Vera  Cruz  for  the  two  trips  per  month,  now  being  per- 


RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK.  11 

formed,  as  will  give  them  an  opportunity  of  proving  to  Congress  that 
this  is  by  far  the  most  expeditious  route  yet  opened  to  the  rich  com 
merce  of  California;  which  proofs,  they  feel,  must  necessarily  insure 
the  appropriations  that  shall  furnish  the  means  to  enable  them  event 
ually  to  carry  the  mails  between  the  two  great  points  in  the  short 
space  of  thirteen  days !  Believing  that  your  sense  of  justice,  and 
desire  for  advancing  the  mails  in  accordance  with  the  progressive  ideas 
of  this  essentially  progressive  age,  will  induce  an  assent  to  their  prayer, 
they  have  the  honor  herewith  to  submit  such  temporary  schedule,  for 
the  said  two  trips  per  month,  as  shall  furnish  the  desired  proofs ;  and, 
with  sentiments  of  regard  and  esteem,  subscribe,  respectfully,  yours, 

The  MEXICAN  OCEAN  MAIL  AND  INLAND  CO. ; 

and  CHARLES  MORGAN, 

per  HARRIS  &  MORGAN,  of  New  Orleans. 
Hon.  JAMES  CAMPBELL, 

Postmaster  General  United  States. 

Schedule. 

Leave  New  Orleans  7th  and  22d ; 
Arrive  at  Vera  Cruz  10th  and  25th. 
Leave  Vera  Cruz  14th  and  29th ; 
Arrive  at  New  Orleans  17th  and  2d. 


OFFICE  OF  THE  MEXICAN  OCEAN  MAIL  AND  INLAND  Co., 

New  York,  October  29, 1853. 

DEAR  SIR  :  Herewith  please  find  a  letter  addressed  to  our  firm  from 
the  president  of  the  Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company,  explaining 
why  the  schedule  of  running  on  the  Pacific  has  been  changed,  (thus 
rendering  useless  the  present  schedule  between  New  Orleans  and  Vera 
Cruz ;)  and,  further,  approving  the  schedule  which  we  had  the  honor 
of  submitting  for  your  consideration  in  our  memorial,  dated  in  Wash 
ington,  D.  C.  Trusting  the  views  of  our  case,  to  which  your  atten 
tion  has  been  called,  will  induce  a  favorable  decision,  we  have  the 
honor  to  subscribe,  with  sentiments  of  regard  and  respect, 
Your  obedient  servants, 

HARRIS  &  MORGAN. 
Hon.  JAMES  CAMPBELL, 

Postmaster  General  United  States. 


[For  the  Commercial  Adveitiser.] 

OFFICE  OF  THE  MEXICAN  OCEAN  MAIL  AND  INLAND  Co. , 

New  York,  October  27,  1853. 

Jn  your  issue  of  Wednesday  evening,  in  the  postscript  of  telegraphic 
news  from  Mexico,  an  important  error  occurred  in  relation  to  the 
transmission  of  San  Francisco  news  by  our  route.  Your  correspond- 


12  RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK. 

ent  says:  "The  news  came  over  the  New  Mexico  or  Kamsey  route, 
and  occupied  about  twenty-four  days  in  its  transmission."  The  facts 
are  as  follows :  The  news  left  San  Francisco  on  the  1st  of  October  by 
the  Nicaragua  steamer  Pacific;  it  arrived  at  Acapulco  on  the  8th, 
crossed  Mexico,  and  arrived  at  Vera  Cruz  on  the  12th,  where  the 
news  remained  from  the  12th  until  the  22d,  the  regular  sailing  day 
of  the  Texas,  (the  steamer  that  carried  the  news,  instead  of  the  Mex 
ico,  as  stated  in  your  article.)  If  our  steamer  had  left  Vera  Cruz  on 
the  arrival  of  the  news  from  Acapulco,  our  merchants  would  have 
had  the  market  prices  in  fifteen  days  from  San  Francisco  via  New  Or 
leans.  If  it  should  be  asked  why  the  Texas  did  not  sail  until  the 
22d,  the  only  reply  we  have  to  offer  is,  that  she  was  running  on 
schedule  time  appointed  by  the  Post  Office  Department,  and  until 
that  schedule  is  altered  the  delay  is  likely  to  recur.  With  a  proper 
connexion,  our  line  can  deliver  mails  from  San  Francisco,  into  NCAV 
Orleans  weekly,  in  less  than  sixteen  days. 
Kespectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

ROBERT  G.  RANKIN,  President. 

Be  pleased  to  observe,  by  extract  from  Commercial  Advertiser,  the 
transmission  of  California  news  from  California,  by  our  route,  in 
fourteen  days ! 

H.  &  M. 

PACIFIC  MAIL  STEAMSHIP  COMPANY, 

New  York,  October  28,  1853. 

GENTLEMEN:  Having  examined  carefully  the  schedule  proposed  by 
you  for  running  on  the  route  between  New  Orleans  and  Vera  Cruz,  so 
as  to  connect  at  Acapulco  with  our  steamers  between  Panama  and  San 
Francisco,  I  beg  leave  to  inform  you  that  it  meets  our  approval. 

When  our  company  commenced  to  run  weekly  boats,  the  schedule 
of  the  Texas  was  arranged  to  conform  to  the  movements  of  those  ex 
tra  boats.  It  happened,  however,  that  the  United  States  Mail  Steam 
ship  Company,  although  willing  to  perform  extra  service,  and  to  let 
that  service  speak  for  itself  to  Congress,  was  not  willing  to  bind  it 
self  as  the  government  required,  so  as  to  shut  out  all  prospect  of  extra 
remuneration  by  a  liberal  legislature  for  extra  duty;  and,  consequent 
ly,  the  steamers,  on  intermediate  weeks,  on  this  side,  were  withdrawn. 
The  connexion  being  thus  cut  off,  our  company  was  obliged  to  dis 
continue  its  weekly  trips,  after  the  schedule  of  the  Vera  Cruz  and 
Acapulco  route  had  been  arranged  to  conform  to  those  trips. 

My  understanding  with  Mr.  Rankin  is,  that  when  the  route  is  fairly 
opened,  we  will  run  steamers  in  the  Pacific  in  due  connexion;  and  I 
am  prepared  to  assign  this  duty  to  two  of  our  smaller  first-class  steam 
ers  the  moment  I  am  justified  in  so  doing.  Until  then,  the  merits  of 
the  route  can  be  tested  by  arranging  a  schedule  to  conform  to  the  ar 
rivals  at  Acapulco,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  to  the  departures  thence 
for  San  Francisco  of  our  steamers  now  running;  and  the  interests  of  the 
government  and  of  the  public  unite  in  recommending  such  a  course. 
Very  truly,  yours, 

WM.  H.  ASPINWALL,  President. 

Messrs.  HARRIS  &  MORGAN. 


RAMSEY  AND  CARMICK.  13 

POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT, 

November  3,  1853. 

GENTLEMEN:  In  answer  to  your  letter  of  the  26th  ultimo,  I  have  to 
state  that,  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Carmick,  the  contractor,,  the  present 
schedule  of  the  New  Orleans  and  Veracruz  route  was  arranged  to 
r.nnnftp.twith  the,  nmTtemplated  route  across  from  Vera  Cruz  to  Aca- 
puTcb,  whicnit  was  proposed  to  run  in  due  connexion  with  an  inde 
pendent  line  of  steamers  between  Acapulco  and  San  Francisco — thus, 
with  the  route  via  Panama,  giving  a  mail  four  times,  instead  of  twice 
a  month,  between  the  Atlantic  States  and  California.  It  was  not  the 
intention  to  connect  at  Acapulco  with  the  steamers  of  the  Panama  line, 
but,  as  above  remarked,  to  establish  an  additional  semi-monthly  mail 
to  run,  via  Vera  Cruz  and  Acapulco,  alternately  at  regular  intervals 
with  the  line  via  Panama. 

This  arrangement  was  made  with  my  predecessor,  Mr.  Hubbard, 
with  whom,  as  Postmaster  General,  also  a  conditional  contract  was 
entered  into  for  the  part  of  the  service  between  Vera  Cruz  and  San 
Francisco,  which  contract  was  to  take  effect  only  from  the  time  it  should 
be  ratified  ~by  Congress;  nor  was  it  to  have  any  force  or  validity  what 
ever  until  it  should  receive  the  sanction  of  Congress  by  the  passage  of 
an  appropriation  to  carry  it  into  effect.  No  such  sanction  has  as  yet 
been  given  by  Congress;  but,  apart  from  this,  and  without  troubling 
you  with  my  views  on  the  whole  subject,  it  is  simply  necessary  for  me 
to  say  that  there  can  be  no  recognition  by  this  department  of  any  ar 
rangement  by  which  the  additional  semi-monthly  mail,  clearly  con 
templated  by  the  then  Postmaster  General,  can  be  dispensed  with. 

The  application,  therefore,  for  a  change  of  schedule  on  the  route  from 
New  Orleans  to  Vera  Cruz,  must  now  be  considered  without  reference 
to  any  trips  it  may  be  proposed  to  run  in  connexion  therewith  beyond. 
The  contract  requires  three  trips  a  month;  you  propose  but  two,  and 
it  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  say  that  the  number  of  trips  stipulated  for 
in  the  contract  will  be  required. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, v 

JAMES  CAMPBELL. 

Messrs.  HARRIS  &  MORGAN, 

New  Orleans,  La. 


WASHINGTON,  November  12,  1853. 

DEAR  SIR  :  It  is  with  great  reluctance  that  I  encroach  upon  your 
time  at  this  particular  season  of  your  official  duties;  but  what  I  have 
to  say  can  be  read  at  your  leisure,  without  much  inconvenience. 

After  my  interview  with  you,  yesterday,  I  was  impressed  with  the 
idea  that  you  had  received  from  some  quarter  erroneous  and  unfavor 
able  views  in  regard  to  this  great  national  enterprise  that  I  am  so 
deeply  interested  in.  I  trust,  however,  that  you  will  not  permit  any 
such  influence  to  operate  in  your  mind  without  affording  us  an  oppor 
tunity  to  be  heard.  I  consider  it  a  duty  I  owe  you  and  your  high 
position  to  explain,  in  a  frank  and  upright  way,  the  true  object  we 
liave  in  view  in  regard  to  this  project;  it  is  to  test  the  merits  of  this 


14  RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK. 

route  for  a  mail  communication,  the  benefit  of  which  will  accrue  to 
the  country,  the  government,  and  those  engaged  in  perfecting  it.    We 
have  asked  no  remuneration  from  the  government  while  pursuing  this 
enterprise,  but  have  gone  to  work,  at  our  own  expense,  and  proved 
the  entire  feasibility  of  this  rapid  communication,  without  the  least 
hope  or  expectation  that  the  department  should  in  any  way  be  sub 
jected,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  to  an  acknowledgment  of  respon 
sibility   for  future   remuneration.     We  desire  to  establish  a   great 
national  highway  from  ocean  to  ocean,  over  a  route  in  which  there 
is  a  saving  of  1,800  miles,  between  New  Orleans  and  San  Francisco ; 
and  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  all  the  present  routes  will  only  be 
secondary  to  it.     This  opinion  is  based  on  reasonable  grounds  :  first, 
the  saving  of  time ;  and,  second,  the  beauty  of  the  country,  and  the 
salubrious  climate  over  which  the  route  passes.     There  is  but  one 
opinion  on  this  subject  among  all  Californians.     We  have  conceived 
wtnat,  in  offering  to  our   government  the  facilities  of  a  rapid   mail 
communication  on  so  important  a  route,  we  have  a  right  to  expect 
from  that  government  a  liberal  encouragement,  at  least  by  an  ex 
pression  favorable  to  an  enterprise  where  so  much  energy  and  capital 
is  invested.     Our  project  has  been  fully  investigated  by  the  late  cabi 
net,  and,  after  their  mature  consideration,  it  was  acted  upon.     The 
contract  was  sustained  by  an  appeal  of  one-half  of  the  United  States 
Senate  in  a  memorial  to  the  department,  and  by  the  personal  solicita 
tion  of  the  representatives  from  the  South  and  West ;  also,  by  a  me 
morial  from  the  most  influential  citizens  of  Louisiana — the  same  being 
.now  on  file  in  the  department.     General  Kusk,  who  framed  the  law 
.under  which  the  contract  was  made,  also  urged  the  advantages  of  this 
communication  on  the  department ;  among  others  were  Senators  Gwin 
and  Soule.     This  communication  must  depend  entirely  on  its  merits, 
and  by  its  advantages  for  the  public  welfare.    If  it  cannot  offer  greater 
inducements  to  the  government  than  the  present  routes,  it  cannot  ex 
pect  to  succeed ;  but  if  it  can  be  proved  that  this  is  the  speediest 
route,  the  law  seems  not  to  be  violated  while  offering  facilities  on  the 
part  of  the  government  to  test  so  important  an  object.     We  have, 
however,  proved  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  transit  can  be  made  from 
sea  to  sea  in  from  three  to  four  days,  and  I  hope  you  may  offer  us 
your  liberal  co-operation,  without  involving  in  the  least  a  compromise 
of  the  public  interest ;  it  is  no  more  than  we  have  a  right  to  expect 
from  the  department.     Governor  Marcy,  without  looking  into  details, 
has  expressed  to  me  similar  views,  and  says  that  our  communication 
seems  to  hold  out  great  national  advantages,  and  he  did  not  doubt  but 
that  you  would  look  on  it  in  a  proper  light.     I  feel  confident  that 
Congress  will  support  any  measure  that  can  be  proved  of  public  utility 
for  the  South  and  West ;  and  this  is  a  southwestern  measure,  without 
any  demands  from  the  public  treasury,  to  build  steam-ships  or  rail 
roads.     I  know  the  feeling  that  existed  last  Congress  on  this  subject, 
.  and  I  feel  confident  that  it  will  be  supported  by  the  South  and  West. 
I  have  spent  several  years  of  intense  labor  and  a  large  amount  of 
money  in  bringing  this  enterprise  to  its  present  position.     I  have 
passed  through  many  deep  and  almost  impenetrable  barriers,  and  no 
impediment  shall  stop  the  consummation  of  this  great  national  work, 


RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK.  15 

save  that  of  the  hand  of  Providence.     I  am  sustained  by  capital  and 
energy,  and  I  know  no  fail  where  perseverance  can  do  the  work.     My 
future  reputation  and  welfare  is  largely  involved  in  the  success  of  this] 
project,  and  I  sincerely  heg  that  you  will  form  no  premature  opinioi 
on  this  subject  against  my  interest.     I  do  not,  however,  believe  thai 
you  would  do  so,  without  an  honest  conviction  of  your  judgment ;  buj 
I  do  know  that  all  enterprises  must  expect  opposition  from  variouj 
causes.     Envy  is  no  small  feature  to  contend  with;  and  we  have 
to  combat  against  it,  solely  upon  the  ground  that  we  have  not  beei 
disposed  to  divide  our  interest  with  others.     The  late  administratioi 
was  made  aware  of  these  facts,  and  they  received  with  great  cautioi 
any  information  coming  from  doubtful  sources. 
£   I  most  respectfully  ask  that  you  will  give  an  order,  permittingl 
me,  as  one  of  the  contractors,  to  carry  a  mail  over  this  route  from 
California,  leaving  it  optional  with  persons  to  send  by  this  way,  and 
to  designate  the  same  on  the  letter ;  and  in  giving  such  an  order,  I) 
wish  you  particularly  to  state  that  the  department  will  in  no  way 
/bound  for  any  future  remuneration  for  the  service. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

E.  H.  CAKMICK. 
Hon.  JAMES  CAMPBELL. 


OFFICE  OF  THE  MEXICAN  OCEAN  MAIL  AND  INLAND  Co., 

November  23,  1853. 

SIR:  In  accordance  with  a  request  from  Messrs.  Kamsey  and  Car- 
mick,  the  contractors  named  in  the  contract  hereinafter  mentioned,  I 
have  the  honor  of  reporting  to  your  department  the  real  character  of 
the  relations  this  company  sustains  to  the  contract;  the  obstacles  to  the 
non-fulfilment  of  it  by  a  date  as  early  as  ivas  anticipated',  and  a  few  re 
marks  explanatory  of  the  route. 

On  the  15th  day  of  February,  1853,  a  contract  was  made  by  the 
United  States  government,  acting  by  the  Postmaster  General,  with 
Albert  C.  Eamsey  and  Edward  H.  Carmick,  of  Pennsylvania,  to  carry 
the  United  States  mails  between  San  Francisco  and  Vera  Cruz,  at  cer 
tain  definite  and  specific  periods  mentioned  in  the  schedule  of  the 
contract,  for  the  sum  of  $424,000  per  year,  for  the  period  of  four 
years,  with  the  privilege  of  extending  it  one  year  if  the  Post  Office 
Department  thought  proper.  This  contract  was  not  of  that  liberal 
form  heretofore  characteristic  of  all  the  other  ocean  mail  contracts, 
but  was  in  a  form  of  that  specific  and  detailed  character  peculiar  to 
any  short  land  service,  where  time  might  be  insured  to  a  minute. 
The  contract  was,  in  fact,  so  stringent  as  to  be  incompatible  with  any 
but  an  honest  intention  to  fulfil  its  spirit  and  letter,  in  which  spirit  it 
was,  in  fact,  assumed  by  the  parties  associated  in  its  performance. 
This  contract  was  printed  and  sent  to  the  Senate  at  its  last  session, 
and  is  now  on  its  files.  By  the  5th  section  of  the  law  of  1848  it  is 
illegal  for  contractors  to  assign  their  contracts  ;  and  although  aware 
that  the  department  is  not  bound  to  recognise  any  but  the  contractors, 
yet;  frankness  enforces  the  propriety  of  saying  that,  by  specific  cove- 


16  RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK. 

nants,  this  company  have  agreed  with  Messrs.  Kamsey  and  Carmick 
to  fulfil  all  the  conditions  of  the  contract  on  their  part,  to  he  kept  and 
performed  in  relation  to  the  land  service  hetween  Vera  Cruz  and  Aca 
pulco,  and  that  similar  covenants  have  "been  made  with  the  Pacific 
Mail  Steamship  Company  (William  H.  Aspinwall,  esq.,  president) 
for  the  sea  service  hetween  Acapulco  and  San  Francisco.  The  con 
tract  distinctly  specified  that  its  schedule  time  (and  in  fact  the  spirit 
of  the  contract)  was  to  the  intent  that  it  should  form  part  and  parcel 
of  the  contract  for  the  gulf  service,  heing  an  extension  of  two  of  the 
trips  hetween  New  Orleans  and  Yera  Cruz,  made  (under  a  specific 
law,  August  30,  1852)  with  Mr.  Carmick,  so  as  to  form,  in  its  own 
language,  "  one  through-line  in  sixteen  days  between  New  Orleans  and 
San  Francisco."  The  gulf  contract  is  without  any  condition  as  to 
an  appropriation ;  hut  the  larger  or  Pacific  contract  is  made  contin 
gent  upon  an  appropriation  "by  Congress  for  its  approval.  The  ques 
tion  might  he  gravely  raised,  in  looking  at  one  contract  as  an  integral 
part  of  the  other,  whether  the  appropriation  "by  Congress  of  $70,000 
(a  trifle  more  than  it  was  hid  for  and  taken  by  Mr.  Carmick,  viz : 
$69,750)  for  the  gulf  service,  was  not  an  approval  in  terms  of  the 
Pacific  contract,  and  discharged  the  condition  of  approval  contained  in 
it.  But  inasmuch  as  the  parties  associated  in  the  enterprise  have  no 
covert  policy  to  pursue,  and  have  not  yet  heen  ahle  to  carry  the 
mails  in  contract  schedule  time  hetween  Acapulco  and  San  Francisco, 
(although  they  have  carried  it  repeatedly  in  six  days,  or  two  days  less 
than  schedule  time,  hetween  New  Orleans  and  Acapulco,)  they  have 
no  disposition  to  raise  issues  or  ask  for  unearned  appropriations.  They 
presented  their  claims  to  the  last  administration  on  the  sole  integrity, 
feasibility,  and  celerity  of  their  route ;  the  proposals  for  the  service 
were  regularly  advertised,  and  the  contract  awarded  to  the  parties  as 
the  lowest  bidders,  hut  not  until  the  most  critical,  searching,  and 
minute  examination  was  made  of  the  practicability  of  the  whole  route. 
The  investigation  was  pursued  by  the  late  Postmaster  General  Hub- 
bard  with  a  critical  acumen  that  must  have  detected  any  imperfection . 
The  grants  made  to  this  company  by  the  Mexican  government,  and 
authenticated  according  to  the  highest  forms  known  to  the  Mexican 
laws,  were  not  only  critically  examined,  but  verified  at  Washington 
by  the  Mexican  legation.  These  grants,  instead  of  interfering  with 
treaty  stipulations,  will,  if  honestly  developed,  prove  most  conserva 
tive  elements  in  sustaining  such  stipulations  by  the  promotion  of  com 
mercial,  social,  and  domestic  intercourse,  and  by  the  infusion  of  fra 
ternal  comity  in  political  and  civil  relations. 

The  obstacles  to  the  non-fulfilment  of  the  Pacific  service. — As  before 
stated,  the  contractors,,  this  company,  and  the  Pacific  Mail  Steamship 
Company,  entered  into  mutual  covenants,  by  which  the  latter  company 
obligated  themselves  to  carry  the  mails  between  San  Francisco  and 
Acapulco  according  to  the  contract  and  schedule  time  as  therein  set 
forth  by  the  department.  At  the  date  of  the  contract  the  Pacific  Mail 
Steamship  Company  were  running  a  weekly  line  of  steamers  between 
Panama  and  San  Francisco,  in  the  weeks  intervening  with  their  semi 
monthly  mail ;  and  the  late  administration  intended,  by  this  weekly 
line  and  the  Vera  Cruz  and  Acapulco  route,  to  send  a  weekly  instead 


EAMSEY   AND   CARMICK.  17 

of  semi-monthly  mail  to  San  Francisco,  and  in  sixteen  days  from  New 
Orleans  instead  of  twenty-eight  days  (the  average  at  that  time  of  the 
semi-monthly  mails}  from  New  York.  The  Pacific  Mail  Steamship 
Company  withdrew  their  weekly  line,  which  of  course  prevented  the 
execution  of  the  Pacific  service  in  contract  time  until  steamers  could 
be  placed  on  the  line  "between  Acapulco  and  San  Francisco,  and  which 
this  company  are  making  arrangements  to  effect,  not  only  in  reference 
to  the  line  from  New  Orleans,  but  from  New  York,  so  as  to  carry  pas 
sengers  in  sixteen  or  eighteen  days  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco. 
In  consequence,  however,  of  the  (early)  non-performance  of  the  Pacific 
service  in  schedule  time,  it  is  understood  that  your  department  re 
scinded  the  order  made  by  the  late  Postmaster  General  Hubbard  for 
the  postmasters  at  New  Orleans,  San  Francisco,  San  Diego,  Monte 
rey,  and  to  forward  letters  by  this  route.  The  disappointment  of  the 
contractors  by  the  withdrawal  of  the  weekly  line  was  great  and  em 
barrassing,  and  disordered  the  whole  arrangements  of  this  company; 
and  while  we  respectfully  defer  to  the  abstract  correctness  of  the  posi 
tion  taken  by  the  Post  Office  Department  on  account  of  it,  we  yet 
hope  that  a  great  enterprise,  so  eminently  calculated  to  benefit  our 
commerce,  and  one  so  earnestly  demanded  by  our  southern  and  west 
ern  citizens,  as  intimately  connected  with  their  interests,  might  have 
a  little  further  time  to  place  itself  right  before  Congress  and  the  de 
partment. 

It  is  respectfully  suggested,  in  this  connexion,  that  the  Gulf  service 
is  punctually  performed  twice  a  month,  and  will  be  three  times  a 
month  as  soon  as  the  steamer  "Vera  Cruz,"  now  nearly  ready,  can 
be  finished;  that  the  land-service,  as  will  be  hereafter  shown,  (see  ap 
pendix,)  has  been  performed,  carrying  an  independent  mail  in  sixty 
hours,  (instead  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  hours,  schedule  time ;) 
that  this  company  have  not  asked  for  any  special  favors  from  the  de 
partment — no  advance  on  the  appropriations — as  other  ocean  mail 
companies  have  done ;  that  no  pay  is  asked  for  until  the  service  is  per 
formed,  and  the  money  honestly  and , equitably  earned;  and  that  the 
2d  section  of  the  law  of  March  3,  1851,  is  applicable  to  our  case,  viz: 
that  the  Postmaster  General  by  this  law  "  shall  be  bound  to  select  the 
speediest ,  safest,  and  most  economical  route." 

We  deprecate  a  negation  of  the  contract  by  the  department  until 
further  time  is  allowed  us ;  and  it  is  believed,  in  view  of  these  facts 
and  the  spirit  of  the  law  last  referred  to,  that  our  enterprise  may  re 
ceive  an  impartial  consideration  and  presentation  in  your  annual 
report  on  the  Post  Office  Department.  An  official  condemnation, 
emanating  from  the  department  under  your  administration,  would  be 
a  serious  obstacle  in  the  development  of  the  Mexican  grants.  It  is 
believed  by  many  that  the  department  had  full  power  under  the  law  to 
make  the  contract  without  the  intervention  of  Congress  for  its  approval ; 
but  having  been  made  with  that  contingency,  it  is  now  only  asked 
that  this  enterprise  may  go  before  Congress  on  its  own  merits  and  in 
tegrity.  A  spirit  of  frank  and  honorable  dealing  renders  it  necessary 
for  the  undersigned  to  say,  that  a  difference  exists  among  the  asso 
ciated  parties  as  to  the  real  value  and  bearing  of  a  government  con- 
Ex.  Doc.  47 2 


18  RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK. 

tract  on  this  enterprise,  and  this  difference  may  have  reached  the  ears 
of  the  department. 

Some  of  the  parties  believe  that  a  government  contract  nationalizes 
the  route,  and  gives  it  an  importance  superior  to  mere  individual  en 
terprise,  and  that  the  imperative  necessity  of  "making  time"  insures 
more  despatch.  Others  of  the  parties  believe  that  a  line  of  fast  steam 
ers  from  New  Orleans  to  Vera  Cruz,  for  the  increasing  southern  and 
western  travel  from  the  valleys  of  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  rivers, 
(composing  the  source  of  nearly  seven-tenths  of  the  whole  resident 
population  of  California  out  of  the  city  of  San  Francisco,)  and  another 
fast  line  of  steamers  from  New  York  to  Vera  Cruz  in  six  or  seven 
days,  by  steamers  built  expressly  for  mail  and  passenger  service,  (and 
not  naval  service,)  of  about  one  thousand  tons,  in  connexion  with 
similar  steamers  from  Acapulco  to  San  Francisco  in  six  days,  would 
form  a  line  that  would  take  precedence  of  all  others  for  celerity  and 
certainty.  Experience  has  exploded  the  idea  that  the  mail  and  naval 
service  can  be  performed  by  the  same  steamers  ;  and  an  examination  of 
the  steamers  now  in  the  employ  of  the  United  States  and  mail-service 
department  verifies  the  position  that  steamers  suitable  for  a  marine 
battery  are  too  slow  for  " mail-service,"  and  that  the  light  and  fast 
steamer  which  can  be  propelled  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  in 
twenty-four  hours  is  not  suitable  for  a  battery  corresponding  with  her 
tonnage  or  power  adequate  to  such  speed.  They  believe  that  such  a  line, 
by  this  overland  route,  in  sixteen,  or  eighteen,  or  twenty  days,  with 
an  independent  mail,  would  seriously  diminish  the  postage  receipts 
of  the  government,  if  not  virtually  supersede  them,  and  render  the 
present  mail  contracts  a  sinecure  in  the  hands  of  the  parties  holding 
them.  If  offices  should  be  opened  in  proper  places  for  the  receipt  of 
mail-matter  by  advertisements,  and  the  company  should  enclose  that 
mail-matter  in  government-stamped  envelopes,  and  guaranty  the  de 
livery  of  the  mail  by  this  route  in  six,  eight,  or  ten  days  earlier  than 
by  the  present  government  route,  it  is  evident  that  the  great  bulk  of 
the  mail-matter  would  go  by  the  quickest  route,  even  at  double,  triple, 
or  perhaps  quadruple  the  present  charge  for  postage.  Such  an  inde 
pendent  mail  (dearly  within  the  law)  would,  it  is  confidently  believed, 
measurably  supersede  the  government  mail,  and  reduce  the  postage 
to  a  pittance.  Moreover,  such  an  independent  line,  not  being  tram 
meled  by  government  time,  might  connect  with  it  English,  West  In 
dia,  Australian,  and  Asiatic  mails,  all  of  which  are  specifically  al 
lowed  by  the  several  Mexican  grants  held  by  this  company ;  and  it  is 
believed  that  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  an  English  express  in 
dependent  mail  in  forty-seven  days,  with  Australia,  will  be  in  opera 
tion.  It  is  also  thought  by  some,  that  this  company  should  be  en 
tirely  disembarrassed  in  order  to  give  an  exclusive  right  to  certain 
foreign  interests. 

Having  frankly  stated  the  difference  of  opinion  on  this  subject 
among  the  associates  in  this  enterprise,  it  is  proper  to  say  that  a  route 
nationalized  by  a  public  contract  is  the  true  official  expression  of  the 
company's  opinion,  and  the  one  which  is  now  before  the  department. 
In  conclusion  on  this  point,  it  is  respectfully  suggested  that  this  route 


RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK.  19 

is  to  be  one  of  the  great  inter-oceanic  routes  of  Atlantic,  California, 
and  Asiatic  travel ;  that  this  enterprise  may  be  fully  developed  by  the 
present  administration  of  our  government  without  expense  in  its 
initial  operations,  but  mainly  by  a  prudent  forbearance  and  official 
approbation,,  and  by  an  order  to  carry  such  mail  matter  as  our  citizens 
may  choose  to  send  by  it. 

The  enterprise  is  emphatically  a  southern  and  western  one;  although, 
originated  by  Pennsylvanians,  yet  its  vitality  is  due  to  New  Orleans 
and  southern  influence,  as  the  very  numerous  memorials  on  the  files 
of  the  department  or  Congress,  and  signed  by  southern  and  western 
senators  and  members,  will  attest.  The  steamer  Texas,  which  has 
been  performing  the  G-ulf  service  during  the  last  summer,  has  carried 
a  large  amount  of  specie  into  New  Orleans,  (at  the  rate  of  one  million 
and  a  quarter  per  annum;)  and  soon  as  the  specie  and  express  wagons 
of  this  company  are  fully  at  work,  millions  of  dollars  will  flow  into 
the  New  Orleans  mint  from  the  gold  placers  and  silver  mines  of 
Mexico  now  being  worked  by  American  and  Mexican  combined 
skill. 

Of  the  practicability  of  the  route. — The  direct  mail  route  runs  from 
Vera  Cruz,  by  the  way  of  Orizava,  Cordova,  Puebla,  Matamoras, 
Chietla,  Mitapec,  Kalcozotitlan,  Chilapa,  Tixtla,  to  Acapulco,  with 
branches  from  Puebla  up  to  Mexico  and  via  Cuernavaca. 

This  road  was  called  by  Humboldt  the  "Asiatic  road,"  as  indica 
tive  of  the  maritime  commerce  of  Spain ;  and  is  the  oldest  road  on  the 
continent  of  America.  This  route  is  no  new  thing,  as  many  suppose, 
but  the  whole  enterprise  is  but  a  recast  of  one  developed  long  before 
our  country  had  its  name  or  a  place  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

Hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  have  been  received  by  the  govern 
ment  of  Old  Spain,  transported  over  this  road,  in  the  interchange  of 
productions  between  the  flotas  of  Spain  and  the  galleons  of  the  Indies, 
and  millions  of  American  commerce  are  yet  to  be  rolled  over  it  in  the 
progress  of  American  enterprise.  The  distance  direct  (as  will  be  seen 
by  the  annexed  itinerary)  from  Vera  Cruz  to  4-capulco  is  404  miles, 
and  via  the  city  of  Mexico  51*7.  Colonel  Ramsey  has  since  shortened 
this  distance  to  under  390  miles,  and  it  will  be  reduced  to  less  than 
350. 

Over  this  road  the  materials  and  machinery  for  the  vast  coffee  and 
sugar  plantations  of  Mexico  have  to  be  transported,  and  these  planta 
tions  for  magnitude  and  productions  are  almost  unequalled. 

From  the  fact  that  the  current  of  foreign  travel  has  been  turned 
towards  the  capital  of  Mexico,  by  the  way  of  Jalapa  and  Perote,  and 
also  from  the  further  fact  that  the  very  limited  amount  of  American 
knowledge  of  Mexico  is  associated  with  the  line  of  operations  of  the 
American  army  during  the  late  war,  less  is  publicly  or  correctly  known 
of  our  lower,  or  more  southern  route,  than  of  the  upper  or  northern 
route.  The  lower  and  shorter  route  presents  the  facilities  of  being 
six  hours  shorter  to  Puebla,  and  of  having  lower  grades,  and  a  climate 
unequalled  for  healthfulness,  salubrity,  and  intertropical  luxuriance 
of  productions. 

There  are  features  about  the  roads  of  Mexico  generally  that  distin 
guish  them  from  our  northern  roads ;  they  are  not  muddy,  having  no 


20  RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK. 

frosts  to  produce  periodic  deterioration ;  they  are  only  slightly  dis 
turbed  during  the  rainy  months  of  June,  July,  and  August.  The 
rains  during  these  rainy  months  are  not  continuous,  all-day  rains, 
but  fall  in  showers  seldom  longer  than  an  hour,  generally  in  the  after 
noons  and  at  night,  and  the  intervals  between  these  showers  are  un 
clouded  and  salubrious.  The  whole  geological  formation  of  Mexico  is 
eccentric,  and  the  soil  generally  composed  of  the  debris  of  matter  of 
volcanic  origin.  Such  materials  form  the  best  roads,  and  with  an  ex 
emption  from  frosts,  dust,  nrnd,  and  rain,  except  in  the  rainy  seasons, 
and  with  no  fences  to  obstruct  the  facilities  for  turnpike,  road-making, 
and  travelling,  presented  in  this  part  of  Mexico,  are  unequalled. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  this  company  are  not  encumbered 
with  the  necessity  of  enormous  expenditures  for  making  canals,  build 
ing  railroads  and  plank-roads,  to  develop  their  resources;  they  have 
only  to  expend  under  $50,000  to  make  one  of  the  finest  roads  in  the 
finest  climate  of  North  America,  to  travel  smoothly  and  pleasantly, 
at  the  rate  of  seven  and  ten  miles  per  hour,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific  ocean. 

From  the  certificate  of  Mr.  Blumenkron,  (see  Appendix  A,)  a  gen 
tleman  intimately  acquainted  with  the  whole  route  from  personal  ob 
servation,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  facilities  for  the  transportation  of 
mails  and  passengers  across  the  republic  is  the  work  of  but  little  effort 
and  expense;  and  from  the  extracts  of  Colonel  Ramsey's  letter,  (see 
Appendix  B,)  it  will  be  seen  what  has  actually  been  done.  From  these 
statements — and  they  are  daily  corroborated  by  Americans  and  Mexi 
cans  who  have  passed  over  the  route — it  appears  that  the  mails  have 
been  carried  over  (at  the  worst  of  air  seasons,  the  rainy  ones)  in  50, 
60,  TO,  80,  and  81  hours ;  that  the  letter  of  Mr.  Tyler  announces  their 
arrival  at  Acapulco  in  six  days  from  New  Orleans,  and  that  the  mail 
time  across  may  be  reduced  to  48  hours,  and  passenger  time  to  54. 

The  difficulties,  dangers,  and  expense  of  mail  transportation  over 
this  route  are  not  comparable  with  the  Panama  route,  as  it  formerly 
was,  or  even  as  it  now  is,  as  to  the  VI  miles  yet  uncovered  by  rail 
road  ;  and  this  company  confidently  believe  that  they  will  be  able  to 
carry  the  mails  over  this  route  for  a  sum  50  per  cent,  per  mile  less 
than  by  the  Panama  route,  and  in  a  time  under  three  days. 

The  company  have  placed  a  portion  of  their  rolling  stock  upon  the 
road,  at  present  equal  to  the  transportation  of  fifty  passengers  per 
week  from  ocean  to  ocean.  This  rolling  stock  consists  of  the  very  best 
built  Albany  and  Troy  post-coaches,  Concord  (New  Hampshire)  pas 
senger,  baggage,  express  and  specie  wagons,  and  about  500  horses 
and  mules,  (at  the  last  report  493.) 

It  is  hop.ed  the  next  advices  from  Colonel  Ramsey  will  give  inform 
ation  that  this  rolling  stock  is  in  operation.  It  is  intended  to  in* 
crease  the  rolling  stock  with  the  increase  of  travel.  The  local  travel 
and  business  in  Mexico  will  alone  pay  a  large  interest  on  the  invest 
ment  ;  and  were  there  no  connexion  with  steamers  on  either  side,  and 
as  a  mere  stage  route,  the  profits  will  be  large,  especially  when  that 
portion  of  the  route  through  the  State  of  Guerrero  is  properly  worked 
and  widened,  and  over  a  portion  of  the  route  the  company  hold  the 
exclusive  right  of  passage,  ferries,  tolls,  &c.,  for  fifty  years. 


RAMSEY  AND   CARMICK.  21 

This  company  apprehend  no  difficulty  in  transporting  any  mails  on 
account  of  the  weight,  inasmuch  as  the  company  will  be  prepared  to 
transport  the  English  mails,  between  England  and  Australia,  in  under 
47  days;  and  those  mails,  it  is  said,  weigh  11  and  12  tons. 

The  remarkable  feature  in  this  route  is,  that  it  passes  through  a 
constant  succession  of  cities,  villages,  ranches,  &c.,  (few  scarce  ten 
miles  apart,)  and  through  a  population  as  dense  as  might  have  been 
found  on  the  old  turnpike  mail  road  from  Albany  to  Buffalo  before 
the  age  of  railroads,  or  on  any  of  the  great  leading  mail  routes  of  New 
York  and  Pennsylvania  of  a  ratable  .distance ;  and  the  annexed  itin 
erary,  taken  from  official  Mexican  documents,  verifies  the  position. 

Fears  have  been  expressed  that  robberies  might  endanger  the  mail, 
passengers,  or  property.  This  difficulty  has  been  wondrously  magni 
fied,  and  is  provided  against,  as  the  vehicles  of  this  company  are  all 
armed  with  blunderbusses  and  revolvers;  and  small,  but  strong, 
light,  iron  boxes  for  specie,  jewelry,  and  valuables,  are  securely  at 
tached  as  fixtures  in  each  coach.  The  material  fact,  however,  on  this 
point  is,  that  this  line  of  route  is  seldom  visited  by  robbers,  owing  to 
the  more  peaceful,  permanent,  and  dense  character  of  the  population, 
and  the  consequent  exposure  to  detection.  General  Santa  Ana  has, 
moreover,  made  a  decree  that  the  inhabitants  of  each  district  shall  be 
responsible  for  the  damages  by  such  depredations. 

Much  more  might  be  said  in  relation  to  this  route,  but  this  memo 
rial  has  already  become  too  long.  Keiterating  our  former  assertion, 
that  we  only  ask  the  opportunity  of  placing  ourselves  honorably  be 
fore  Congress,  on  our  own  integrity,  we  hope  that  our  enterprise  may 
receive  such  official  sanction  from  the  Post  Office  Department  as 
may  be  most  compatible  with  the  interests  of  the  government  and  the 
benefit  of  the  community. 

With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

EGBERT  G.  RANKIN, 

President  M.  0.  M.  d  1.  Co. 

Hon.  JAMES  CAMPBELL, 

Postmaster  General. 


APPENDIX  A. 

I  hereby  certify  that  I  am  intimately  acquainted  with  the  road  be 
tween  Vera  Cruz  and  Puebla,  and  thence  to  Acapulco. 

Having  been  engaged  in  mercantile  business  at  Puebla  for  the  last 
seven  years,  I  am  intimately  acquainted  with  every  mile  of  this  road, 
having,  from  the  nature  of  my  business,  been  compelled  often  to  travel 
over  the  whole  route,  and  am  therefore  free  to  say  that  the  whole  dis 
tance  can  be  travelled  in  stage-coaches  without  any  impediment — this 
road  being  free  from  robbers — and  will  .require  only  an  expenditure  of 
from  $25,000  to  f  30,000,  to  make  it  equal  to  any  stage  route  in  the 
United  States  ;  and  at  this  time,  without  the  expenditure  of  even  a 
single  dollar,  the  whole  distance  can  be  travelled  in  stage-coaches, 
with  the  exception  of  about  thirteen  leagues,  with  the  utmost  facility 


• 


22  RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK. 

and  expedition.  The  mail  is  now  taken  from  Vera  Crnz  to  Acapulco 
in  sixty  hours,  which  time  will  be  shortly  reduced  to  fifty  hours ;  and 
this  distance  can  he  regularly  travelled  with  the  mail  coaches  in  that 
space  of  time  the  whole  year  round. 

J.  BLUMENKRON. 
CITY  OF  NEW  YOKE,  November  22,  1853. 


APPENDIX  B. 

Extracts  from  letters  received  from  Colonel  Bamsey,  in  Mexico,  of  the 

dates  following . 

"AUGUST  29,  1853. 

"I  have  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Markoe,  an  agent  at  Vera  Cruz, 
dated  August  22,  in  which  he  says :  'The  Texas  left  this  morning  at 
8  o'clock  a.  m.  The  express  arrived  last  night  at  8.  It  left  Acapulco 
on  the  17th  at  4  p.  m/  Mr.  Tyler  writes  me:  'The  riders  have  done 
nobly  in  getting  through  in  the  time  they  did,  considering  the  state 
of  the  roads,  (in  the  height  of  the  rainy  season.)'  Mr.  Denman,  at  Ac 
apulco,  writes  me  from  Acapulco,  August  23:  'Your  express  which 
left  Vera  Cruz  on  the  17th  instant  at  4  p.  m.,  arrived  here  on  the  22d 
at  4£  a.  m/' 

"SEPTEMBER  15,  1853.' 

"I  only  returned  last  evening  from  a  trip  I  have  been  making  over 
some  distance  of  our  route.  The  express  mail  is  not  working  to  my 
entire  satisfaction,  as  too  much  time  (80  hours)  is  too  long,  and  I  am 
anxious  to  improve  this  important  service." 

"By  the  time  that  the  rains  are  over,  all  our  animals  will  be  in 
prime  condition — say  by  the  1st  November — and  then  our  agents  assure 
me  they  can  easily  make  the  distance  under  60  hours.  This  season 
has  been  unprecedented  for  heavy  rains  and  bad  roads.  We  have 
now  passed  through  the  worst  of  it,  making  the  experiment  under 
every  possible  disadvantage,  and  proving  that  we  can  always  run  from 
port  to  port  in  80  hours  at  the  farthest." 

"  I  have  a  letter  from  Senor  Gernez,  the  Secretary  of  State  of  Guer 
rero,  dated  the  7th  instant,  in  which  he  says :  '  The  courier  left  Aca 
pulco  on  the  4th  instant,  at  4  p.  m.,  and  arrived  here,  (Tixtla,)  in 
I  this  city,  on  the  5th,  at  2  o'clock  p.  m.'  Now,  by  looking  at  the 
distance,  yeu  will  perceive  that  it  is  over  the  worst  part  of  the  road, 
and  more  than  one  hundred*  miles,  at  the  very  worst  season  of  the 
year." 

"OCTOBER  3,  1853. 

' '  I  have  been  informed  by  the  agent  of  the  Pacific  Mail  Steamship 
Company  at  Acapulco  that  the  steamers  will  not  hereafter  touch  at 
that  port.  If  this  be  the  fact,  it  will  be  grave  matter  for  the  consid- 

*  The  distance  has  since  been  reduced. 


RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK.  23 

eration  of  our  company.  In  that  event,  we  will  be  cut  off  from  re 
ceiving  or  forwarding  any  California  mails  until  we  establish  a  con 
nexion  of  our  own." 

"  The  careful  examination  I  have  directed  to  be  made  recently  of 
the  whole  length  of  our  route,  has  dispelled  many  of  the  obstacles 
and  difficultias  which  we  had  supposed  would  have  to  be  encountered. 
I  always  supposed  that,  as  we  became  more  familiar  with  the 
route,  and  with  the  country  on  both  sides  of  it,  difficulties  would 
vanish. 

"  Our  express  mail  has  not  only  demonstrated  the  time  in  which 
we  can  run  over  the  route,  but  also  the  obstacles  in  the  very  worst 
season  of  the  very  worst  year." 

"  My  last  reports  received  of  the  time  of  the  couriers  from  Yera 
Cruz,  on  the  17th  September,  4  p.  m.,  were  as  follows:  Arrived  at 
Puebla  4  p.  m.  on  the  18th;  arrived  at  Mitapecll  a.  m.  on  the  19th; 
arrived  at  Draper  3^  p.  m.  on  the  19th  ;  arrived  at  Papagallos  river 
10  a.  m.  of  the  20th  ;  arrived  at  Acapulco  at  6  p.  m.  of  the  20th — the 
whole  time  three  days  and  two  hours.  At  least  four  hours  were  lost 
by  the  courier  going  through  Chilpanzingo,  which  was  out  of  the 
way." 

"  OCTOBER  15,  1853. 

"Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  thought  it  best  to  finish  the  subject 
of  the  gold-placers  on  the  Mescala  river.  The  existence  of  these 
mines  have  long  been  known.  You  will  find  them  mentioned  in  my 
notes  on  this  valley,  under  the  article  on  '  Mines;'  but  recently  gold 
has  been  found  in  such  abundance  as  to  cause  a  sensation ;  people  rush 
in  crowds. 

"  Since  then  other  more  extensive  placers  have  been  discovered  on 
the  Papagallos  river,  in  the  line  of  our  route.  These  have  created  a  f 
still  greater  sensation,  as  you  will  see  by  the  papers.  My  notes  on 
the  mines  are  almost  incredible;  but  it  is  gratifying  to  find  every  day 
new  confirmation  of  all  that  I  described  of  the  astonishing  mineral 
wealth  of  that  country. 

"If  I  can  leave  the  city  in  order  to  attend  more  closely  to  this  ex 
press  line,  I  could  soon  convince  you  that  eighty  hours  is  slow  travel 
ling.  The  last  reports  I  sent  you  show  an  improvement  on  this,  by 
reducing  the  time  to  seventy  hours.  My  orders  will  now,  I  trust,  be 
obeyed,  as  it  is  pretty  evident  I  will  take  no  excuses.  I  have  now 
ordered  the  mail  to  be  carried  in  sixty  hours,  which  is  only  a  begin 
ning.  If  my  orders  are  carried  out,  in  six  weeks  time  I  will  have  it 
done  in  forty-eight  hours,  which  will  be  at  about  seven  miles  per  hour. 
This  is  no  great  feat  in  such  a  country,  in  such  a  climate,  and  on  such 
roads.  Were  the  horses  now  in  the  proper  condition,  which  they 
would  be,  had  they  been  properly  fed  and  attended  to,  I  could  now1 
perform  it  in  forty-eight  hours.  You  remark,  'the  route  being  feasi 
ble  for  an  express  mail  under  all  the  difficulties  incident  to  such  an 
enterprise,  why  not  feasible  for  heavy  mails  and  passengers?'  To  this 
let  me  answer  that  the  route,  beyond  all  question,  is  feasible  for  heavy 
mails,  as  much  so  as  for  light  mails ;  we  will  gain  vastly  in  time  as 
soon  as  we  can  put  on  our  stages. 


24  RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK. 

"You  must  have  been  in  mind  that  between  Kincon  and  the  cross 
ing  of  the  Papagallos  there  are  no  mountains;  and,  to  make  the 
road  practicable  for  stages,  it  only  requires  some  widening  at  the 
most  trifling  expense.  Our  Concord  wagons  will  suit  admirably  for 
this  purpose. 

"I  am  ashamed  of  our  contract  to  carry  the  California  mail  to  New 
Orleans  in  sixteen  days,  when  I  know  we  can  carry  it  even  to  New 
York  in  a  less  number  of  days.  It  has  actually  placed  us  in  a  false 
position,  from  which  we  ought  to  relieve  ourselves  by  a  practical 
demonstration. 

"I  regret  extremely  that  the  steamers  have  not  joined  us  at  the 
ends  of  our  route,  so  that  we  could  demonstrate  the  few  hours  in 
which  we  can  make  the  distance  across  Mexico.  All  that  I  may  re 
port  to  you — all  the  certificates  of  speed — will  not  satisfy  the  public ; 
they  must  have  the  letters  and  news  from  California.  It  is  your  affair 
to  require  them  to  make  the  connexion. " 


* 

ACAPULCO,  September  23,  1853. 

DEAR  SIR:  I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  yours  of  the  16th 
September.  In  reference  to  your  metallic-boat,  it  is  in  good  order, 
excepting  that  the  air-chambers  have  been  cut  open  for  the  purpose 
of  stowing  baggage. 

It  is  with  much  gratification  that  I  received  correspondence  from 
New  Orleans  in  six  days,  by  your  last  mail,  which  arrived  here  on  the 
20th  instant  at  YJ-  o'clock  p.  m. ;  and  I  am  now  satisfied  that,  at 
present,  this  route  presents  facilities  for  the  most  rapid  mail  commu 
nication  between  California  and  the  United  States. 
Yours,  truly, 

S.  TYLER,  Agent. 
ALBERT  C.  EAMSEY,  Esq., 

Vice  President  and  Agent,  Mexico. 


OFFICE  P.  M.  S.  S.  Co., 

Acapulco,  September  21,  1853. 

DEAR  SIR:  Your  mail  was  received  last  night  at  6  o'clock,  bringing 
dates  from  New  Orleans  to  the  14th  inst.,  which  is  very  satisfactory, 
"being  as  yet,  I  think,  the  quickest  time  from  the  United  States. 

The  down  boat  from  San  Francisco  I  have  advised  you  will  not 
touch,  for  which  I  am  very  sorry;  but  your  mail  matter  will  receive 
quick  despatch  for  San  Francisco. 

Yours,  truly, 

S.  TYLER,  Agent. 
ALBERT  C.  RAMSEY,  Esq.,  Mexico. 


RAMSEY    AND    CARMICK.  25 

[From  the  Universal,  September  19, 1853.] 

Improvements  in  the  State  of  Puebla. 

The  Eco  del  Comercio  of  Vera  Cruz,  in  its  number  of  the  14th  inst. , 
(September,  1853,)  has  the  following  paragraphs: 

"  The  Prefectura  of  Matamoras,  in  the  State  of  Puebla,  have  under  / 
their  charge  the  repairing  of  the  road  which  connects  that  State  with 
the  State  of  Guerrero,  and  the  work  has  been  under  the  direction  of 
Senor  Jose  Maria  Pavon  since  last  January,  with  70  presidential  sol 
diers,  afterwards  increased  80,  provided  with  plenty  of  tools,  rations, 
and  clothes  from  the  municipal  funds.  In  the  first  three  months  of 
that  year,  15,000  yards  of  road  were  opened  near  Mitapec  to  the  State 
line  of  Guerrero ;  and  to  the  last  dates,  the  31st  July  last,  3,563  yards 
were  repaired  near  Chietta ;  and  near  Tepeojiema,  (S.  Juan  Espan- 
than,)  8,529  yards. 


Order  of  the  Mexican  government  to  facilitate  our  mails. — General  di 
rection  of  mails. 

MEXICO,  July  18,  1853. 

In  a  supreme  order  of  the  6th  inst.,  which  I  received  on  the  16th, 
his  excellency  the  Minister  of  Hacienda  (Treasury)  writes  to  me  as 
follows : 

"His  excellency  the  President  is  informed,  by  your  official  despatch 
No.  95,  dated  the  22d  of  June  last,  of  the  improvements  introduced 
by  Mr.  Albert  C.  Ramsey  in  the  line  of  steamers  between  Acapulco 
and  San  Francisco,  in  California,  and  between  New  Orleans  and  Yera 
Cruz,  and  in  that  of  mails  from  that  port  to  Acapulco,  whose  days  of 
arrival  and  departure  are  stated  in  the  copy  which  accompanies  yours; 
and  you  ask  to  be  authorized  to  publish  the  same.  His  excellency 
has  been  pleased  to  accord  this  permission,  which  I  communicate  to 
you  in  answer  for  that  purpose.  To  the  same  effect,  their  excellen 
cies  the  governors  of  the  States  of  Vera  Cruz,  Puebla,  Mexico,  and 
Guerrero  have  been  written  to,  to  place  no  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the 
fixing  the  posts  of  Senor  Eamsey,  but,  on  the  contrary,  to  afford  every 
facility  in  placing  these  very  useful  establishments."  ._ 

I  have  the  honor  of  transmitting  this  to  you  for  your  information, 
and  in  answer  to  your  communications  of  the  16th  June  last  and  the 
12th  inst.,  assuring  you  of  my  consideration  and  particular  esteem. 

God  and  liberty. 

P.  M.  ANAYA. 

To  Mr.  ALBERT  C.  EAMSEY. 


26  RAMSEY   AND   CAEMICK. 

General  direction  of  mails. 

MEXICO,  July  18,  1853. 

By  virtue  of  the  contract  (by  supreme  approbation)  made  with  Don 
Alberte  C.  Kamsey,  with  this  general  direction,  to  transport  through 
the  territory  of  the  republic  the  mails  coming  from  foreign  places, 
and  going  also  to  foreign  ports,  by  means  of  the  ocean  line  of  steam 
ers  between  Vera  Cruz  and  New  Orleans,  and  between  Acapulco  and 
San  Francisco,  in  California,  the  said  Mri  Eamsey  has  arranged  the 
trips  of  the  said  mails  in  the  following  manner  : 

Line  of  steamers  between  Vera  Cruz  and  Neiv  Orleans. — Leave  New 
Orleans  every  month  the  1st,  14th,  and  25th ;  arrive  at  Vera  Cruz 
the  4th,  17th,  and  28th.  Leave  Vera  Cruz  the  1st,  8th,  and  22d ; 
arrive  at  New  Orleans  the  4th,  llth,  and  25th. 

Line  of  steamers  between  Acapulco  and  San  Francisco,  connecting 
with  the  express  from  Vera  Cruz  to  Acapulco. — Leave  Vera  Cruz  every 
month  the  4th  and  17th;  arrive  at  Acapulco  the  9th  and  22d.  Leave 
Acapulco  the  9th  and  22d;  arrive  at  San  Francisco  the  17th  and  30th. 
Leave  San  Francisco  the  8th  and  24th  ;  arrive  at  Acapulco  the  16th 
and  1st.  Leave  Acapulco  the  16th  and  1st ;  arrive  at  Vera  Cruz  the 
21st  and  6th. 

All  of  which  is,  by  supreme  order,  published  for  information. 

P.  M.  ANAYA. 


NEW  YORK,  November  28,  1854. 

SIR  :  The  ttndersigned  would  respectfully  call  your  attention  to 
their  contract  of  the  3d  of  March,  1852,  with  the  department,  for  the 
transportation  of  the  United  States  mails  between  Vera  Cruz,  in 
Mexico,  and  Acapulco,  San  Diego,  Monterey,  and  San  Francisco.  By 
this  contract  it  was  stipulated  and  intended  to  transport  the  mails 
semi-monthly  between  New  Orleans  and  San  Francisco  in  sixteen 
days,  (consecutively,)  and  surety  for  a  large  amount  was  given  for 
faithful  performance  of  the  service.  By  the  terms  of  this  con 
tract  it  was  subject  to  the  approval  of  Congress,  and  also  to  an  appro 
priation  by  the  same. 

The  undersigned  immediately  prepared  to  perform  the  service  in 
order  to  satisfy  the  requirements  of  the  department,  and  also  to  save 
*  their  surety  harmless  from  their  heavy  obligation.  Steamers  were 
provided  for  the  service  on  the  Pacific  ocean,  and  one  of  the  under 
signed  proceeded  to  Mexico  to  take  charge  of  the  line  between  Vera 
Cruz  and  Acapulco.  Horses,  mules,  harness,  stages,  wagons,  and 
other  materiel,  were  rapidly  collected  to  furnish  all  that  was  required 
for  the  384  miles  of  land  conveyance  across  Mexico.  At  the  same 
time  a  small  letter  mail  was  established,  which  commenced  opera 
tions  in  July  of  the  same  year.  By  this  method  it  was  designed  to 
transmit,  rapidly,  intelligence  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  cities 
of  the  Union  until  the  stages  and  other  materiel,  were  properly 
placed  on  the  line.  Under  this  temporary  arrangement,  newspapers 
and  letters  were  carried  between  California  and  New  Orleans  in  four- 


RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK.  27 

teen,  thirteen,  and  twelve-and-a-half  days.  Had  the  arrangement 
"been  completed  for  connecting  with  the  steamers  at  Vera  Cruz  and 
Acapulco,  in  no  instance  would  the  time  have  exceeded  thirteen  days, 
as  the  distance  by  land  across  Mexico,  from  sea  to  sea,  was  performed 
with  great  ease  and  security  in  less  than  three  days.  Frequent  ex 
periments  were  made  on  parts  of  the  Mexican  road  to  test  the  time 
required  for  the  transportation  of  the  mails  when  the  stages  were 
placed  on  the  route,  and  it  was  found  that  as  soon  as  the  mails  were 
transported  in  the  vehicles  prepared  for  that  purpose,  the  time  would 
not  exceed  forty-eight  consecutive  hours  between  Vera  Cruz  and  Aca- 
pulco. 

It  was  the  intention  of  the  undersigned  to  have  commenced  with  the 
mail  stages  in  the  month  of  December,  as  they  were  all  ready  pre 
pared  and  on  the  ground  for  that  purpose.  The  expenses  incurred 
under  the  contract  at  that  time,  amounted  to  the  sum  of  ninety-eight 
thousand  dollars,  ($98,000,)  of  which  $56,000  have  been  paid,  and 
the  balance  remains  unliquidated.  But  the  department  having  at 
this  time  expressed,  in  an  annual  report  to  Congress,  a  disapprobation 
of  the  contract  on  the  ground  of  the  impolicy  of  conditional  contracts, 
the  undersigned  ceased  their  operations,  and,  consequently,  have  sus 
tained  serious  damages  from  the  action  of  the  department.  It  is  to 
be  regretted  that  the  department  should  have  interposed  to  break  up 
this  enterprise,  which,  by  the  terms  of  the  contract,  was  to  be  exclu 
sively  in  the  power  of  Congress.  It  is  also  to  be  regretted  that  this 
route,  the  shortest  and  best  for  the  rapid  transmission  of  the  mails, 
should  thus  remain  unoccupied  at  the  present  time.  The  undersigned 
are  still  ready  and  willing  to  perform  the  service  in  the  time  and  mode 
specified,  and  would  further  suggest  that  if  they  were  not  required  to 
touch  at  Monterey  and  San  Diego,  they  would  further  stipulate  to 
carry  the  mails,  at  all  times,  so  as  to  make  each  trip  between  San 
Francisco  and  New  Orleans  in  less  than  thirteen  days.  By  the  other 
routes  the  time  now  required  is  some  nine  or  ten  days  more.  Thus 
an  important  saving  of  time  would  be  effected,  and  a  corresponding 
benefit  to  the  public. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servants, 

ALBERT  C.  KAMSEY. 

EDWAED  H.  CAEMICK. 
Hon.  JAMES  CAMPBELL, 

Postmaster  General. 


POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT, 

November  30,  1854. 

GENTLEMEN:  Your  letter  of  the  28th  instant  has  been  received. 
The  conditional  contract  for  service  between  San  Francisco  and 
Vera  Cruz,  to  which  you  refer,  was  executed  on  the  3d  of  March, 
1853,  just  before  I  came  into  office.  My  attention  was  called  to  the 
subject  of  Mr.  Rankin's  letter  of  the  16th  of  June,  1853.  In  my 
letter  of  the  9th  July  following,  I  gave  my  views  at  length  in  regard 
to  this  contract ;  and  if  sums  of  money  were  expended  by  you  after 


28 


RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK. 


that  time,  it  was' done  with  a  full  knowledge  of  my  views,  which  re 
main  unchanged. 

I  am,  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  CAMPBELL, 

Postmaster  General. 
Messrs.  EAMSEY  &  CARMICK, 

New  York,  N.  Y. 


YORK,  December  20,  1854. 

SIR:  Your  letter  of  the  30th  ultimo  was  duly  received.  In  refer 
ring  to  the  contract  between  the  department  and  ourselves,  you  say 
that,  on  the  9th  of  July,  1853,  you  made  known  your  disapproval  of 
the  contract  in  a  communication  in  answer  to  a  letter  from  E.  Gr. 
Rankin ;  and  if  we  have  expended  money  after  that  time,  on  account 
of  the  contract,  we  have  done  so  with  a  full  knowledge  of  your  views. 

We  were  not  informed,  by  your  letter  of  the  9th  of  July,  that  you 
had  any  intention  of  annulling  our  contract.  We  had  completed  all 
our  arrangements  for  stocking  the  road  across  Mexico  prior  to  the 
receipt  of  your  letter;  and,  on  account  of  the  same,  have  expended 
the  sum  of  ninety-eight  thousand  dollars,  ($98,000;)  and  our  surety 
for  the  faithful  performance  of  the  contract  had  been  given,  and  we 
were  bound  to  be  ready  to  carry  the  mails. 

Your  letter  certainly  did  not  annul  the  contract ;  for  then  our  sure 
ties  would  have  been  released  from  all  responsibility  on  our  account, 
and  we  absolved  from  all  reproach  for  the  failure  of  the  enterprise. 
On  the  contrary,  the  department  still  considered  the  contract  binding 
upon  us,  as  is  apparent  from  the  subsequent  correspondence  with 
Messrs.  Harris  &  Morgan.  The  steamers  belonging  to  these  gentle 
men  were  carrying  the  United  States  mail  between  that  city  and  Vera 
Cruz.  They  had  addressed  you  on  the  subject  of  a  change  in  the 
days  of  departure  from  each  port,  so  as  to  connect,  by  means  of  our 
line  across  Mexico,  with  the  Panama  steamers,  at  Acapulco,  running 
to  San  Francisco ;  and  thus  supplying  additional  facilities  for  a  more 
rapid  and  frequent  transmission  of  intelligence  to  and  from  California. 
The  advantage  of  this  arrangement  would  have  been  immense  to  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  cities,  without  any  inconvenience  to  the  depart 
ment,  and  moreover  without  one  dollar  expense  to  it ;  of  course,  this 
arrangement  was  intended  to  continue  only  until  the  appropriation 
should  be  made  under  our  contract,  when  steamers  were  to  be  placed 
on  the  line  between  Acapulco  and  San  Francisco. 

The  wishes  of  Messrs.  Harris  &  Morgan,  as  well  as  those  of  the 
Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company,  desiring  this  temporary  change  in 
the  schedule  time  between  New  Orleans  and  Vera  Cruz,  were  fully 
communicated  in  writing  to  the  department.  But  in  your  letter  to 
Messrs.  Harris  &  Morgan  of  the  3d  of  November,  1853,  you  refused 
to  accede  to  this  request;  predicating  your  refusal  on  our  contract 
made  with  your  predecessor,  Mr.  Hubbard,  for  the  transmission  of  a 
semi-monthly  California  mail,  in  which  it  was  not  contemplated  that 
the  mails  sent  from  New  Orleans,  via  Vera  Cruz  and  Acapulco,  should 


RAMSEY   AND   CARMICK.  29 

go  forward  to  California  by  the  Panama  steamers,  but  by  another 
line  running  only  between  Acapulco  and  San  Francisco ;  and  which 
contract  was  awaiting  the  sanction  of  Congress.  You  add  :  "No  such 
sanction  has  yet  been  given  by  Congress;  but  apart  from  this,  and 
without  troubling  you  with  my  views  on  the  subject,  it  is  simply 
necessary  for  me  to  say,  that  there  can  be  no  recognition  by  the  de 
partment  of  any  arrangement  by  which  the  additional  semi-monthly 
mail,  clearly  contemplated  by  the  then  Postmaster  General,  can  be 
dispensed  with."  In  this  there  is  a  positive  recognition  of  our  con 
tract  or  arrangement  with  Mr.  Hubbard  as  still  existing,  which  the 
department  would  not  "dispense  with,"  although  it  would,  while  our 
appropriation  was  pending,  have  shortened  the  time  some  ten  days  to 
and  from  California  by  connecting  with  the  Panama  steamers  touch 
ing  at  Acapulco. 

When  the  annual  report  of  the  Post  Office  Department,  in  Decem 
ber,  1853,  was  transmitted  to  Congress,  we  were  led  to  believe,  for 
the  first  time,  that  you  had  decided  virtually  to  annul  our  contract, 
as  the  estimate  for  an  appropriation  under  the  contract  was  not  sent 
in  by  you,  but  another  route  for  a  semi-monthly  mail  was  recom 
mended.  You  will  thus  perceive  we  were  not  apprized  of  the  inten 
tions  of  the  department  until  the  close  of  the  year  1853,  when  all  our 
expenses  had  been  incurred,  and  when,  in  consequence  of  the  official 
report,  our  operations  ceased. 

In  conclusion,  the  department,  by  its  action,  having  virtually  an 
nulled  the  contract,  and  having  assumed  to  do  that  which,  by  the 
terms  of  the  contract,  was  left  to  Congress,  we  therefore  deem  our 
selves  grievously  damaged,  and  have  more  than  an  equitable  claim 
for  redress. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servants, 

ALBERT  C.  RAMSEY. 
E.  H.  CARMICK. 

Hon.  JAMES  CAMPBELL, 

Postmaster  General. 


